Five Precepts of Identifying a Sri Lankan Traitor
Repost This Article
Image courtesy Transparency International
Recently an air of nervousness has insinuated itself in to the Sri Lankan psyche. Doubt and uneasiness seem to be seeping like moisture through invisible social capillaries, carrying a message of treachery. Evident is an alien concern; being branded foully on this island, which suddenly seems to have become a wellspring of traitors! Since this strange, new phenomenon of escalating treachery could hardly be attributed to ‘something in the water’, its fountainhead must be where that abhorrent label is encountered most frequently – in the rhetoric of the politicians!
Amongst the populace, there seems to be great confusion as to what defines a ‘traitor’ in todays’ Sri Lanka. As the term lies undefined, an air of uncertainty hovers darkly over Sri Lankans who are forthright, querying or even concerned about the future of their nation and her people. Speak out and question, and from some corner emanates an uncertain hiss of, ‘Is that a Traitor…?’.
To help me understand and quell baseless fears; to stand confidently amidst a people who clearly understand their rights, I defined Traitors to the nation in Five Precepts as, a person who:
- STEALS FROM THE PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA: taking advantage of a position of power or affiliation to redirect monies, allocated for the development of the nation and her masses, for personal development. This includes taking commissions and bribes to execute officially contracted work. This is a Traitor to the nation.
- DEFIES THE LAW OF SRI LANKA AND AIDS THE LAWLESS: disregarding the written law of our land and protecting and promoting individuals who are clearly dangerous to society. This would include interaction with criminals and those indulging in criminal activities. This would be the action of a Traitor to the nation.
- DESTROYS SRI LANKA’S PROTECTED AREAS: taking advantage of a position of power or affiliation to sequester lands that are protected for future generations of Sri Lankans, for the purpose of ‘development’ for personal gain. This would include involvement in projects that destroy National Parks, Sanctuaries and Reservations for the purpose of developing agriculture, tourism and private villas. This would be the work of a Traitor to the nation.
- ILLEGALLY HARVESTS SRI LANKA’S NATURAL RESOURCES: taking advantage of a position of power or affiliation, to supercede the law of the land and permit abusive harvesting of natural resources. This would include condoning and involvement in activities such Sand-mining, Gem-mining, Timber felling which are carried out rampantly. This would be the action of a Traitor to the nation.
- ABUSES SRI LANKA’S STATE FUNDS: taking advantage of a position of power or affiliation to enhance personal lifestyles. This would involve indulgences such as, purchase of luxury vehicles; foreign travel, entertainment and funding of family members at state expense with no concession to the pathetic state of the national economy while the masses endure the economic impact. This would be the action of a Traitor to the nation.
I now know without doubt that it is neither I, who fails to fly the National Flag on Independence Day, nor you who champions the democratic rights of fellow citizens or protests the loss of media freedom, who is a traitor. And it certainly is not they who reported the destruction of a National Park (by cricketers who despite their insatiable greed are still on their heroic pedestals), nor he who queries unconstitutional procedure who are traitors! Then it certainly could not be the fishermen who no longer can afford to go out to sea, who are traitors because they protest the lack of concessions, but those who prevent concessions from being made to the masses; those who will not sacrifice any part of they’re recently acquired, luxury lifestyles that the people of Sri Lanka pay for. These are the Traitors to this nation.
As Cicero, a Roman philosopher and political theorist once wrote,
‘A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within…. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.’
Naturally, anyone is reluctant to be shoved in to that defiling category: TRAITOR!
A real excellent peice of jounalism Sunela Jayawardene.The term Traitor has been bandied around by politicians in power, if one questions or disagrees with ther actions or thoughts.If one examines the definition of the term traitor as enunciated by you, a majority of Politicians in power are traitors.They fit most of the categories, and carry on regardless.
Bravo–well written and right on the mark,irony and all.However one important kind of traitor– what may be called VERBAL TRAITORS must be included in the list .These are the scribes who write elaborate defences of the other traitors,provide justification for their misdeeds and, on the one hand, encourage them and on the other hand befuddle the masses into thinking that these traitors are noble self-sacricing heroes who are defending the nation.
Truly admirable post Sunela. I do wonder how the ‘mindset’ can change of our politicians in any party to move away from crony politics. True democracy means people power. Which sadly doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. Did we have to defeat the LTTE – YES. Do we ignore the transgressions of any politician – NO. Are we free to express our opinions anywhere in the world where democratic societies exist – Not really.
Traitor Haters Unite! The business of being a traitor has been very lucrative from the time L de Almeida arrived on our shores. Since then our history is rife with ‘leaders’ who fit into the above mentioned 5 precepts. As generation after generation turn to this time tested method of lucre accumulation, it( being a traitor)has been refined to the point where it is now a bona fide art form.
A good posting, but will this reach the self-styled ‘bogus patriots’. Here is an example of a ‘bogus patriot’. He is one who takes a leading role in the UK in organising demonstrations in support of the Sri Lanka Govt. The High Commission, as usual, provided him with National Flags for a demonstration. The freely got flags were sold to the participants for £2 each. After the demonstration the leader and his close associates walked into a pub and used the money collected to enjoy themselves.
The voters of this country did not give JRJ a mandate to change the constitution of this country in 1977. All that he spoke was of giving us something more for dinner, namely more grain or ATA AHTUK. His first state visit out of this country was to the US, and on his return he hastily drew up this Constitution, which was even one up on the US, which has subsequently resulted in taking this country, which we will see in the near future, to be beholden to them. It is time for the people of this country to get together and think of ways and means of getting a user friendly constitution enacted so that this country is not run by remote control. The sooner this happens the better for this country, since there are leaders with extremely dictatorial attitudes lurking on the horizon.
This needs to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil and published in the newspapers in Sri Lanka – it is the common man who needs to be taught how to discern the quality of their leaders.
It would be good if an article of how honest and effective leadership can positively impact the country and its people could also be published in Sinhala and Tamil as well.
And please add another…
Plundering the nation’s archaelogical heritage: Destroying or robbing archaelogical sites in search of buried treasure and artifacts using one’s influence with law enforcement bodys to provide cover for such activities. This too is an act of a traitor.